A New Quilt Begins

 I brought some projects with me knowing there would be some down time. 
 I've made it through several of them and am hoping to get at least one more on it's way to being done.  So that being said, my All Hallows Eve quilt was the one I started working on next.  

The pattern is one I re-discovered recently and it looked super easy (and it is).  

It is basically a rail fence with the center being a skinny strip.  

I have been having fun with it.  

I was hoping to make a queen sized quilt but am shy a few blocks. 

 I used 2 jelly rolls of All Hallows Eve fabric and was able to use the cream strips for the light blocks.  Interestingly, I was able to make enough blocks for a size between the twin and queen 

(not a size on the pattern). 

 I did find some fabric at a local shop 

so will see if I can make enough additional blocks to make an actual queen.  
Both Cole and Finn like to lay on all the blocks.

  Cole has been throwing up in the mornings so 

I have to put them away so he doesn't get anything on them.

I didn't realize how much black yardage I was going to need.

I brought 2 different black fabrics.

One alone was not enough to do the whole quilt so I used both!

The pattern calls for all the same light for the light blocks but I just used the light strips.

So mine will be a little more scrappy.

I think I will try to use the blacks I have for the black border too.

Scrappy seems to be the theme of this quilt.

I was cutting the strips into blocks and Cole was holding down the pressing mat

He wanted me to stop pressing my strip sets so he could lay on the warm mat.

One afternoon I was watching a Hunger Games marathon and cutting strip sets into blocks.

The pattern I am making is called Brownstone and it looks like this.  If you need to make one too, you can find a pattern here.

I still have a few more strip sets to make and then sew into blocks.

I trimmed the blocks I have done last night.

I'm one step closer to being able to lay this out.

I need to find some of the orange large flower print for the outer border.

Otherwise I think I am set with borders.

~XOP~

On Becoming A Gigi

 As most of you know, we welcomed a grandson, Avery, into our family a few weeks ago. 

He is amazing and I will always be grateful that he is the one that made me a Gigi.  

Indulge me a few moments though as I muse about some of my thoughts and feelings. 

 I was not prepared for the emotions I would feel as I watched my little girl take care of her baby. 

 I have had the privilege of staying over most nights to help out on late night baby duty.  

The kids are doing amazingly well adjusting to the chaos that comes 

when you add a tiny human into your home.

  It's hard!  It's exhausting and filled with anxiety. 

  It's also joyful and amazing. 

 It's really difficult to see that part when you are in the middle of sleep deprivation and anxiety though.  I am so proud of these two! 

 They have supported one another and are working every day to figure out a way to make a new life.

I am totally in love with this baby.  I would hold him all day and all night.

  It's a fine line for me to walk. 

 OF COURSE, I want to be there all the time but

I know they need time to find their way as a new family.

  I stay the night and help with late night baby duty. 

 I am helping with the household chores, which is also my pleasure.

As most mom's know, the mother daughter relationship is complex. 

 Ours has mostly been a good relationship, but even we have our days.  

Nothing prepared me for having my daughter look at me

 when I was ready to leave and whisper, "Don't go". 

 My brave, amazing, confident daughter still wants and needs her mom. 

 My heart was in a puddle.  

She is gaining confidence daily. 

 She is already an amazing mom and just needs a little bit more sleep to realize it. 

 Her hubby has been so supportive and takes the shift before mine.

That guy has to patience of Job!  
I am so very proud of BOTH of them!  

Thank you so much for letting me share in this amazing time in your lives.  

You really have no idea how much it means to me.

~Love, Gigi

Changing Station

 I don't often make 3-D items like bags and such. 

 I decided to make a Changing Station (Patterns by Annie) for Avery.  

Talk about intimidating!!! 

 Just for me though, as I am always so nervous about making bags.

I bought all the things I needed to make it and then I let it sit...for months. 

 As the birth got closer I figured I really needed to bite the bullet and start it. 

 It was SO SCARY!  I 

took a deep breath, put on my Big Girl panties and started.  

I am proud to say I actually finished it! 

 Is it perfect,? NO.  is it done? YES. 

 Am I happy with it?  Mostly.

  If I make another one I would do a few things differently, like not use a big print.  

Or if I did I would know how to center it better and the directions the things go.  

It was the first time I used PUL (a waterproof fabric).  

I learned a LOT while making this.  

The pattern is very well written and I only had to rip out a few things

 (because it is difficult for me to think in 3-D). 

I cut my fabric and did the quilting before I could begin cutting out the pieces for the bag.  

I opted for straight lines and used tape to begin then guided with my walking foot.

Now for the finished bag!

This is the front of the bag.  

You can see that right under the striped bit there is a zipper closing a pocket on the outside of the bag.

I am going to show each part.  

This is the bag from the back side.

This is with the tab open and the first flap folded down.

There is a mesh pocket with a zipper. 

 I bought metal pulls to put on my zippers rather than making and using fabric pulls. 

 It saved a lot of time and frustration as those were teeny, tiny!

This is opened up one more time.  

You can see the 2 mesh pockets on the bottom of the photo and 

the top part is the removable changing pad part, folded up.

This is as I was opening up the changing pad part.

The white is the PUL

Here you can see the pad opened up all the way. 

 It is actually removable too. 

 At the top where it is attached to the bag, there is a Velcro strip under it so the pad can be removed!

This shows the entire thing when flipped over to the back side when it is all opened.

I loved the stripe cut on the bias for the binding. 

 I would cut the part that holds the entire pouch closed differently next time. 

 I cut the squirrels horizontal when it should have been a vertical cut to show up when closed. 

 If you zoom in on my photo you will see what I mean about that.

I bought a ball point needle to use on the PUL. 

 I also had to sew with tissue paper to avoid the PUL stretching.  

They are NOT kidding. 

 I tried without it and had to rip that out and re-do using the tissue paper.  

Then it sewed like a dream.

  I lengthened the stitch length to sew on the PUL and I think that helped too.  

So if you are nervous about working in 3-D like me, Patterns by Annie has your back.

Her patterns are well written and easy to follow.

Some of her patterns have videos and she is also very responsive to answering questions.

NO, I am not affiliated with her in any way, just a fan girl!

I am thinking I should make a couple more of these just so I get comfortable in making them.

Wouldn't these be great baby shower gifts?

Although to be fair, it took me 3 days to make, LOL.

I don't know how much more I will be blogging for awhile as we are spending all our time with baby Avery and the kids, so not much sewing will be happening over here.

I do have a couple more things here with me so you never know though!

~XOP~

Avery's Baby Quilt

 I don't think I have shared Avery's baby quilt yet. 

 I have had it done for quite some time but didn't want to share it until I had gifted it.  

I made the bear quilt designed by Annie Brady, using her  Big Sky fabric line.

 I bought the kit and then decided to only make the bear center part. 

 My daughter loved it and so did I!  

My LAQ used wood grain as if the bear were looking out of the trees.  I love it!

I found the cutest minky for the back too.

I had made a little self binding blanket using fox flannel and gray minky for the center.

Turns out that little fox blanket is being used all the time! 

It is the perfect size.

So next time I will share the thing I am the proudest about making for the baby.

Intrigued?

Stay tuned!

~XOP~

Canada Quilt Top Progress

 I finally got the top all put together but was not happy with how wide vs long it was.
  I was not sure I had enough background fabric to make it the way I wanted it to finish so I took a photo of it as is, so to speak. 

 It was ok, the way it was but I was still not happy with it.

I thought I would add some maple leaves to the top and bottom.
  I had to piece the background but I was thinking I would have enough.  So I added them.

I was still not happy.  

I didn't like the leaves going all the way to the edge.

So I added one more border of the background.

There we go!  NOW I am happy with how it is finished!

I am thinking about how I want to have it quilted and here is what I am thinking.

Woodgrain in the mail part, like the animals are looking through the trees.

I had the baby bear quilt done with that pattern and I loved it.

Then a line of loons on the top and bottom first border, the plain one.

I think I would love the Word Canada in the top and bottom Maple leaf borders, possibly surrounded by maple leaves to make the block letters of Canada stand out.

I might need s micro stipple though or something small to make the word stand out.

I may have her quilt maple leaves into the small plain side borders too.

I am hoping my friend can execute what I see as a plan for this quilt.

I will have to talk to her once we get home.  I am hoping that she can have it done for Christmas.

I would really love to be able to gift it to my husband for Christmas.

I have 3 projects left but realized that I have no background fabric for one of them.

That is the halloween one I really wanted to start next.  

May have to see if I can find an open quilt shop near by.

Or maybe just order it online and have it delivered.

What would you do?

The other one is a Christmas quilt and I could work on that.

The last one is a case for my Oliso mini iron.

I'm always nervous about making 3D things but maybe that will be the next one.

If it were you which one would you start on next?

1-Christmas

2-Iron case

3-Halloween

~XOP~

SPOOKY

 Now that I have finished all my animals (oh wait, I haven't shared the procupines have I?) 
 OK, so here are the porcupines.  

The spikes are not how they are supposed to be and where they join up to the head unit isn't perfect

 but DONE is better than perfect, right?

So my porcupines have rogue spikes.  

Real life porcupines aren't perfectly symmetrical are they?

I'm just happy that I can move on getting this put together.

  I did NOT like the directions on cutting the spikes for this little guy. 

 It wasted a LOT of fabric and was not the easiest to follow. 

 I get why they did it the way they did but

 if I were ever to make these again I would do them differently.

Moving on...

I bought a kit from Jedi Craft Girl for Halloween called Spooky. 

 I fell in love with the pattern, probably because of the black cat, LOL.  

The mini top is all finished. 

 I stitched around the cat and the letters using the blanket stitch.

I took a photo of the back so you could see the blanket stitch from behind.

Of COURSE I had my "Spooky" helper.  

Isn't he looking so great?  

He has gained a full kilogram from when we started his treatments!  

That's 2.2 pounds!!! 

 Of course this means his medical costs have also increased, sigh.  

It's always a double edged sword isn't it?  

It's ok though, as long as he is improving I will find a way to continue his treatment!

I am moving through the quilts I brought with me which makes me happy. 

 I finished the Christmas Bear top, this Spooky mini and just need to assemble the Canada quilt.  

I have 2 more with me to work on plus a case for my Oliso mini iron.  

After I assemble the Canada quilt, I will work on the jelly roll Halloween quilt I brought. 

 I have to do some design work for the Canada quilt as

 I want to assemble it a little differently than the original pattern so stay tuned!  

We are home today and will get to see baby Avery again tomorrow so time to work on some quilts!

What are you up to today?

~XOP~

Introducing Our Grandson

Last week our daughter and SIL made us grandparents.

 I am so proud to introduce you all to 

Avery Lincoln Roberts 

 He was born on 10/09/2020 weighing in at 8 pounds and 4 ounces.  

We got to meet him today.  

He was fussy when we got to their house and as soon as I took him he quieted down and fell asleep. 

 I think it is the grandma's touch!

Papa was pretty smitten too.

He is still a little jaundiced but that is getting better too.

Kelsey and Nick are doing a great job at parenting and we could not be prouder of the two of them.  They are making amazing parents and we are enjoying watching them with Avery.  

It is such a joy to watch your child with their child.

I don't know how much I will be sharing as I will need to respect Avery's parent's wishes regarding photos of him on social media, but I will post when I can.  

Welcome to our family little Avery.  

We are over the moon excited to be grandparents.  

Thank you Kelsey and Nick for making us Gigi and Papa!

~XOP~

Some More Sewing

I have been doing some more sewing and am so anxious to finish up these blocks.  

I now have just one last block to make and I will have all the blocks for the Canada quilt finished.  

Then I will need to assemble the quilt. 

 I need to see if I can use the 2 rulers I have to make the porcupine's back so we shall see.  

Here is what I have done now.

For some reason these raccoons reminded me of the two Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp.

 I thought you might like to see a few more pics of the cats in our camper.  My block helper.

They love looking out this back window!

He found a stink bug on the faucet, LOL.

I have begun working on another little Halloween quilt

 while I mull over how to go about making the porcupine block.

~XOP~